Sacred Dragon
by The Ginger Ninga
Summary: When a mission gone wrong leave Fairy Tail with one less mage, a new enemy decides it is the perfect time to strike. Kidnapping members of the guild, they use them as leverage against Makarov to force him to tell them what they want to know. Rated T for violent scenes and some inappropriate humor.
1. A New Adventure

_Ginger: So, new story. This one is going to be for Fairy Tail, if you couldn't tell. A warning before reading, this story contains many OC's, whose full bio and such will be uploaded to my account page as they're introduced. If you aren't a fan of that, can't keep up with too many characters or just don't like OC's, please don't flame, just don't read. _

_Ginger: Now that the formal stuff is out of the way, let's get onto the story. Natsu, will you do the disclaimer?_

_Natsu: The Ginger Ninga does not own Fairy Tail or any characters and plots associated with them. This is a non-profit writing for entertain purposes only._

_Ginger: So please don't sue me._

The Fairy Tail guild was full of its usual hustle and bustle, its various members talking and a few were brawling. The S class trails were coming up and many were trying to get missions to improve their chances of being picked. But there seemed to be a shortage of jobs over the past week, so even some of the more famous members were having difficulty getting work.

Natsu was leaning back on the hind legs of his chair, a look of exasperation on his face. "This is sooo boring! Why can't we get a job?" He was sitting at a table with three of his teammates, Lucy, Gray and Happy.

Happy, who was sitting next to Natsu, looked over his shoulder. "Um… Natsu, maybe you shouldn't sit like that."

Natsu looked over at his friend. "Why not? It's actually pretty comfo-" His question was answered when Erza walked up behind him and grabbed the back of his chair. She pushed it forward, slamming the front to legs back onto the ground. The action also made Natsu's face slam onto the table.

Erza had her arms crossed and started to berate Natsu once again. "How many times have I told you not to sit like that? You will fall and get hurt."

Natsu lifted his head from the table, a massive red mark on his forehead. "But I'm hurt now, so did that really hel-" He stopped talking after he saw the death glare Erza was giving him. She pulled up a chair and sat at the table. Lucy was the first to ask.

"Did Mirajane have anything?" They were talking about jobs, of course. Lucy's rent was due in a couple of days so they needed to find some work.

Erza nodded. She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it. She placed it on the table so they could read it. Gray read its contents aloud. "Attention all capable mages and warriors. The town Cedar has been having difficulties with a group of thieves that hides out in a nearby forest. Not all details can be contained in this request, so visit me if you are interested. I run the pawn shop near the village center."

"Not a bad job, it doesn't seem too difficult," Lucy looked at the bottom of the page. "And it pays rather nicely.

Happy flew over to Lucy, quickly swiping her purse. "Yeah Lucy, looks like you could use some money." He turned over the small pouch, shaking it to let its contents out. Only there weren't any. Happy was then forced to fly away from the angry girl.

Natsu and Gray were more than happy for a job that almost guaranteed a fight. With all the members in agreement, they started to head out. When they stepped out the door, Gray asked Erza. "Where exactly is Cedar?"

"It's a rather small port village south of Fiore's west mountain range." Natsu turned around.

"So how exactly are we going to get there? Seems like a long way to walk."

"Who said we were walking?" Natsu's happy mood disappeared when he realized that he was going to ride in a carriage.

_Fiore Maximum Security Prison: Later that night_

Two shadowy figures stood on the roof of Fiore's prison for the strongest and most dangerous wizards. While they were about that same height, that is where the similarities ended.

The man, whose jet black hair was in stark contrast to his pale face, wore a high collared maroon cloak that was worn from years of use. The cloak hid his chest and his uppers legs from being seen, but he wore black military pants with matching boots.

The woman, whose long purple hair managed to reach her hips, wore something much more different. Instead of the loose fitting cloak, she wore a suit of black leather armor that clung tightly to her. The cowl of the outfit was currently down. She was the first to speak.

"So, what exactly is the plan again?" Her accomplice let out a deep sigh.

"I already told you three times today."

"I know, but I forgot." She gave a cute smile, trying to make him give in.

He glared at her for a second, before sighing again. "The plan is to get inside the prison without raising the alarm, find the target without raising the alarm and get out without raising the alarm. Just so you know, not raising the alarm is the most important part." The girl just giggled.

"You worry too much Talbot. Keep that up and your blood pressure might get too high." She laughed at her little joke while Talbot just rolled his eyes. He lifted his hand and signaled for their two companions to join them. Two pairs of pointy ears appeared on a nearby roof before quickly flying over to them.

One managed to land gracefully on her feet while the other crashed into Talbot, knocking him over. He fell down onto his partner, who in turn fell on top of the one who landed properly. The purple cat at the bottom of the pile half-yelled, "Talbot. Amanita. Get off of me!"

The duo quickly got off of her, with Amanita apologizing. "Sorry Lily, it seems Talbot can't keep his hands off of me." She sent a small smirk in Talbot's direction, but he was too busy to see it.

He held the second cat upside-down by the tail, her eyes spinning around in her head. After setting her down on the ground he started to mildly scold her. "Now Kiara, we've practiced flying, haven't we?" A small nod. "So why did you crash into me?" No answer. Talbot shook his head. "I have never heard of an exceed that hasn't mastered flying by age 6." Amanita walked up behind him, Lily sitting in the little pocket her cowl made.

"Most people haven't even heard of an exceed in the first place." She bent down and picked up the dark green cat. "Has your daddy been mean to you?" Kiara nodded. Amanita gave a stern look to Talbot, who just looked offended. "I guess mommy is going to have to teach him a lesson when we get home. In the meantime, I need you to stay here with your sister, and if anything happens, fly back home. Get help from the guild, ok?" She set her down before picking up Lily and setting her down next to her. She leaned in close and whispered into their ears. "Stay safe, we'll be back soon."

Talbot, who had given up on that whole fiasco, was standing at the edge of the roof. He had been looking for a way in, and found one. Amanita walked up to him. He pointed to an unguarded door near them. "We can get in through there. Just hope we don't get seen."

Amanita laughed. "You worry too much." With that, she jumped at him, forcing him to catch her bridal style.

"What are you doing?" Talbot didn't like where this was going.

Amanita just tilted her head. "You're the only one who can survive the fall unscathed. So it's only natural that you carry me." She said innocently.

Talbot rolled his eyes at her. "You're lucky I like you." With that Amanita smiled as Talbot jumped off the edge of the building.

_Ginger: So there is the first chapter. I'm going to say this now, a bit of the story won't be focusing on Fairy Tail. The next chapter will barely have anything with them, so be prepared. The first three chapters will be uploaded one day after another, then on every Sunday. Going to see if a schedule helps me from randomly stopping. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, and if you do, please leave a review or favorite or something. Makes me feel happy when I see people enjoying my work._

_Ginger: Almost forgot, I changed my pen name! As much as I liked the old one, I started going by this on other websites so I thought it would be easier to remember. So KH3 FTW is now The Ginger Ninga._


	2. Prison Break

_Ginger: And so the next chapter begins. Sorry that the last one was rather boring, have to start somewhere. But you're lucky because the first three are all uploaded at once. Anyway, time for the disclaimer. It's your turn Happy._

_Happy: The Ginger Ninga does not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. Now where is my fish? I was promised fish._

_Ginger: Alright, here it is. *hands over a raw salmon* Now go back into the story._

_Happy: Aye Sir!_

Fairy Tail's strongest team was currently in a carriage on their way to Cedar. The small port village was located on the far west side of the country and rather isolated from the rest of it, due to the surrounding mountains. This led it easily forgotten as a port with Hargeon being both larger and in a more connected area.

The team was forced to take a train down to Hargeon before getting on a carriage that drove along the coast. The trip would take overnight, which most members of the team had no problem with. Natsu, on the other hand, had half of him hanging out the window, trying to fight of the urge to vomit.

Gray was forced to sit next to Natsu, with Erza and Lucy sitting across from them. Happy said he got bored from sitting in the carriage, so he was currently flying behind them. Gray pointed to the half of Natsu that was inside. "Anybody every find out why he's like this?"

Erza shook her head. "No idea, but it gets rather annoying. Anyway, we should probably get some rest. It's going to be a long ride." There was a loud groan from Natsu.

_Fiore Maximum Security Prison: Later that night_

Talbot jumped off the building, Amanita in his arms. He started to hurtle towards the ground, building up quite a bit of speed. Seems like falling down eight stories would do that. When he hit the ground there was a loud snap and small cracks formed in the cement as he fell onto the ground. Talbot had to stifle a scream as he realized what snapped. Amanita got out of his arms and helped him sit down. "What happened? Are you hurt? Did you break something?" She touched part of his lower leg, causing him to clench his teeth in pain.

Talbot gave her a look that pleaded 'Stop doing what you are doing' before answering. "No, I'm perfectly fine. I am just holding back screams for fun." Amanita just glared at him.

"This is no time for sarcasm." She brought her hands back to the injured leg. "Now tell me what's wrong."

Talbot sighed and pointed to his leg. "In case it wasn't obvious, my leg is broken. I got internal bleeding, which could work in my favor, but I can't start healing it until we realign the bone." Amanita nodded and grabbed his leg. Talbot's eyes widened. "Wait, what are you do-" He brought his hand to his mouth and bit down to stifle his scream as Amanita forcefully put the bone back in place.

Amanita clapped her hands together. "There, all better. Oh don't give me that look, you know it helped." She got back up and helped Talbot to his feet. "Now all we have to do is get to that door. How long until your bone is healed?"

Talbot slowly started to put weight on his leg, before flinching and going back to standing on one foot. Amanita offered help, so he put one arm over her shoulder so she could support him. "Well, the blood clot needs to harden into bone, which takes about eight weeks for normal people." He tilted his head, thinking. "So about fifteen minutes, give or take."

Amanita nodded, the two slowly walking towards the door. "I got to say, this is a very poorly guarded prison." They hadn't seen any guards besides the ones in the front of the building, and this was supposed to be the best prison in all of Fiore.

Talbot looked around, she had a point. There were no guards to be seen. "They all must be indoors, so we got to be careful when we get inside." They were only a few feet away now, so they picked up speed a bit.

Amanita placed Talbot against the wall and tried the handle of the door. It was locked. "Well, guess we got to bust it open. Talbot, can you do it?"

Talbot raised an eyebrow at her. "Not only is that a terrible idea, but I need to focus on recovering. I don't have much power right now so it demands my full attention." Amanita crossed her arms.

"Why is it a terrible idea? We can't get in so we need to break it down."

"And what if someone passes by? They will see a broken door and sound the alarm. Mission failed."

"Well fine, got a better idea?"

Talbot just shrugged. "I don't know, pick the lock?" While it was meant to be a joke, with neither of them knowing how to pick a lock, Amanita took it seriously. She considered the idea before agreeing.

"You can just use your blood right? You have complete control of it." Talbot shook his head, claiming that he used too much magic energy to heal his leg. Amanita sighed. "What's the point of being a blood mage if you can't even use blood?" She reached into a small pouch that was strapped to her hip and pulled out a single glove.

The glove didn't really cover her hand. The palm was open and only the tips of the fingers were completely covered. Now on the tips of all five fingers were sharp claws, about an inch and a half long. She brought the claw on her pointer finger to her other palm and made a small incision on it. There was a small drop of blood on the claw. She held it in front of Talbot's face. "Lick." She instructed.

Talbot gave her a quizzical look. "What are you doing?"

"You can get power back by eating blood, so eat it." Talbot didn't want to make her angry, for how nice she seemed, she was terrifying when she was angry. He licked the blood of her finger, feeling a bit stronger. He then licked the blood that was pooling in her palm, feeling new power flowing through his veins. Literally.

The irises of his once brown eyes turned a dark red, matching the color of blood. He stopped leaning on the wall and tested his leg. Satisfied with it, walked to the door. Using Amanita's claws, he made a cut on his palm before holding it up to the lock. He made his blood move into the hole where the key usually went, forcing it to take the shape of it. After a few moments of it taking form, he hardened it and turned it. The door swung open as it unlocked.

Amanita smirked. "See, that's all it takes to get you on your feet again." She walked into the prison. "Now don't worry about finding our target. I can smell him, so just follow me." With that she started to run down the hall.

Talbot started to go after her, but he found out his leg wasn't fully healed, so he had to limp. "What am I going to do with her?" He asked no one in particular. Since she stopped at the first turn, he was able to catch up rather quickly. "Please stop rushing ahead, we need to stick together."

Amanita frowned at him. "Can't we just get to him? He's only a couple cell blocks away." Talbot was rather surprised to find out how close they were. But his surprise was cut short when he saw a quick flash of steel.

He jumped backwards, falling down. He then forced Amanita out of harm's way by using her blood to force her backwards. She landed on the ground as well, before yelling at Talbot. "I thought we agreed you would never use my blood to control me!" She stopped talking after seeing the spearhead crash into the ground where she used to be standing.

Talbot reached under his cloak; it had separated revealing a large collection of blood red knives of all shapes and sizes. He grabbed one of the smaller ones on his ribs before quickly throwing it at the guard who attacked them. The knife hit the handle of the spear, forcing the guard to let go. Amanita used this opening to kick the guard's feet from underneath him before jumping on top of him.

She raised her fist, a dark purple and black magic seal forming in front of it, and yelled. _**"Poison Dragon's Iron Fist!"**_ She punched the guard in the face, knocking him out. She got up from the ground and looked down at the unconscious body. Talbot walked up behind her and also inspected it. The guard's skin was turning a dark pink with some of the skin forming bubbles filled with dark yellow liquid.

"I think you might have overdone it."

"He would have killed us if I didn't." The look Talbot gave her made it clear that the guard wouldn't have been able to kill them. "Fine but at least he's not going to do anything now."

"I know that, but can't you do something about the poison in this system? The guy's going to die soon if you don't get rid of it."

"Since when do you care about whether or not someone dies?" The two were back to arguing in the middle of the hall.

Talbot rose is voice just a bit. "Since when we were supposed to be on a stealth mission! If someone dies they will know someone was here." Amanita threw her arms into the air.

"Fine, I'll heal him." She held her hand to the guard's face, which was currently getting worse. There was a light purple glow, and soon all signs of infection were gone. "There, better?" Talbot nodded and the two started to move again.

The walked slowly, being careful not to cross the path of anymore guards. When they made it to the cell they were looking for, Talbot pulled out the knife he had thrown at the guard. He was about to cut his palm again, intending to pick another lock when Amanita stopped him. "Don't worry, I got this." She pulled out a metal ring with multiple keys on it.

"Where did you get that?" Amanita smiled and just said she got it from the guard that attacked them. She put one of the keys into the lock and tried to see if it worked, it didn't. So she used the next one, and the next one, until she finally got it.

The door of the prison cell swung open, and the duo walked in. On the ground, chained to the floor, was a man with spiky maroon hair and tanned skin. He looked up at them, expecting guards. Imagine his surprise when he saw two mages standing before him.

"What do you want?" Cobra asked. Amanita just walked up to him, helping him to his feet. The chain holding him allowed him to stand, but just barely before it ran out of slack.

"Don't worry Cobra, we aren't here to hurt you." Cobra was about to ask who they were, how they knew his name, who sent them, but he was interrupted by Amanita forcefully shoving her lips onto his. He was surprised, but didn't fight it.

Talbot stood awkwardly in the doorway to the cell, slowly shifting his weight back and forth. It was just a weird situation for him.

Amanita used her tongue to force open Cobra's mouth. This is the first thing that aroused suspicion. Her tongue wasn't human, it was long and flat, like a snakes. But Cobra still didn't struggle. There was something about the kiss, it just tasted… Sweet.

Talbot just watched as the scene unfolded before him. There was a soft glow coming from Amanita's mouth, and it was slowly spreading into Cobra's.

Amanita slowly moved her hands from Cobra's sides to his shoulders, allowing her to kiss him deeper. Inside their mouths, she quickly forced her long tongue down Cobra's throat. She moved her hands to his neck, slamming him to the wall.

Cobra's eyes opened and looked into the purple irises of the girl in front of him. And he was terrified. There was nothing in those eyes other than pure determination. He tried to pull away, but he was already against the wall. He had nowhere to go.

Amanita forced her tongue down lower and lower, her long tongue almost at its limit. Then there was a bright light coming from inside Cobra, near his stomach. The light was able to be seen through his outfit. His eyes and mouth also started to glow, though his mouth was covered by Amanita's.

When it ended Amanita pulled out her tongue and what it grabbed hold of inside Cobra. Both went back into her mouth as Cobra fell to the floor. Amanita reached into her mouth and pulled out a small purple orb, no bigger than her palm.

Leaning down next to Cobra, she whispered in his ear. "Some advice for the future, some poisons taste sweet." With that, she dropped the orb in her pouch and turned to Talbot. "Are we ready to go?" Talbot gave a weak nod. "What's wrong? Are you jealous that I kissed someone else?"

She tried to give him a kiss, but he just pushed her away. "Not after what I just saw. Maybe tomorrow I won't be as scarred." Amanita made a little giggle before walking past him. The two started to make their way out.

The duo had made their way out of the prison and where on their way home. Their two "daughters" had seen the when they came out. They flew down to them and quickly fell asleep after doing so. Lily sleeping in Amanita's cowl and Kiara being held by Talbot. The four of them were almost at the train station when Amanita spoke.

"Hey, aren't we getting a new recruit soon? Someone by the name of Tommy or something." Talbot nodded.

"Thomas, his name was Thomas. I think Drake was going to be running his initiation mission. Make sure he was ready."

Amanita raised her eyebrows. "The famous Drake is going to running it." She said with mock surprise. "He will barely talk to anyone, let alone go on a mission with someone."

Talbot chuckled. "He's always ran the initiation missions. And he talks to us occasionally, but only when we say something first."

"So what's the mission?" Amanita was rather curious. She had to take down a bunch of Vulcans to get in. She didn't want the new guy to get something easy.

Talbot scratched his head as he tried to remember. "Something about bandits and that village close to our guildhall, Cedar."

_Ginger: And so ends the second chapter. Small cliffhanger here. But since the next chapter will be up tomorrow it doesn't mean much. If you have any question about what exactly happened just now, feel free to ask. I think I'm going to be more interactive with this story. If something is confusing or if there are problems with something, don't hesitate to say something. Send a PM or leave a review, either one works. I'll make sure to answer._


	3. A Town Called Cedar

_Ginger: Another start to another chapter. This one will be full of exposition and all that crap, but I guarantee that the next one will contain a lot of action, so bear with me. Anyway, Lucy, I believe it's your turn to do the disclaimer._

_Lucy: The Ginger Ninga doesn't own Fairy Tail. And how come I didn't have any lines in the last chapter?_

_Ginger: Well, um… That's because… Anyway on to the story!_

_Lucy: Come back here you red-headed prick!_

The carriage slowly rolled to a stop just outside of Cedar. Natsu was the first to get out, collapsing onto the ground. The rest were soon to follow. Erza, Grey and Lucy looked at the _Welcome to Cedar_ sign while Happy was poking Natsu with a stick, trying to see if he was still alive.

They looked around at the town in front of them. It was about the size of magnolia, if not a little smaller with plenty of buildings and shops. The city was land locked by a massive cliff that towered over everything, but eventually lowered into a large forest. In the center is a church, with two rune knights guarding the entrance. There were groups of people moving around the town, buying gifts and souvenirs from shops, trying to find something to eat, or just taking in the beauty of the city. The group slowly walked into the city.

By now Natsu had been able to get to his feet and joined them at the entrance. They began walking into Cedar, looking for a pawn shop. It didn't take them long to find it, it was just a few buildings down from the church.

When they knocked on the door, it took a moment for it to open. When it did, it was opened by a middle aged man with slightly graying hair. One look at them and he knew why they were here. "Ah, you must be here for the job. Come in, come in." He waved them into his shop, turning the open sign around into a closed sign.

He sat them down in a side room. "So, you are here for the job, correct?"

Grey nodded. "The one about the thieves in the forest, yeah. You said there were more details you couldn't say in the request."

"Of course, some things must be said behind closed doors." He hadn't sat down, and seemed to be nervous. "Well, for the past couple of weeks, there have been a lot of robberies in this town. About two or three houses are being hit each week. I was the most recent."

Natsu interrupted him. "So you want us to get your stuff back?" He didn't like the vibe this guy was giving off. Something was weird about him.

The man shook his head. "No, they didn't take anything of real value. I want you to get rid of them." He reached into a drawer in a nearby desk and pulled out a piece of paper. "When they robbed my store, they left a map." He placed the map onto the table. It seemed to lead to the location of the guilds hideout.

"Not very good thieves, if you ask me." Grey wondered how stupid you had to be to need a map to know how to get back to your home.

Erza looked at the man. "So this is where they are?" She pointed to a small marking on the map that looked like a house.

The shopkeeper nodded. "Yes, I need you to infiltrate their base of operations and force them into submission. As soon as you leave I will contact the Fiore Guard to have them arrested."

"Anything else we should do?"

"To prove of your success, take down the banner they keep in the main hall and bring it to me. When that is done, you will get paid." Erza didn't have time to question why he knew about a banner due to Natsu and Lucy's joy about getting to fight/getting paid, respectively.

The team was then forced out of the shop and sent out to do their job. They all looked at the map they were given and tried their best to follow it.

Meanwhile, across the center of the village, two people with cloaks covering their bodies and face walked out of the town's only bar and restaurant. The taller one led the other, who only reached up to about his ribs. They walked across the town, heading for the pawnshop. They walked seamlessly through the crowd, people just avoiding them whether it be out of fear or respect. After knocking on the door, the old man opened it once again. He took one look at the man in front of him before trying to shut the door. The tall one grabbed the door and pushed it open, letting them in. The old man sighed before closing the door behind him.

"Well, I'm assuming you're here for the job." He motioned for them to sit down, but only the small one did. The taller one walked over to the shopkeeper's kitchen and pulled out a kettle and some tea leaves. The shopkeeper said to him, "Don't bother, the stove stopped working two days ago. Can't heat anything up with it."

"That won't be a problem." The man held the kettle full of cold water over his open hand and created a small flame to warm it. "Now, will you please tell the mission details to my associate, Mr..?"

The shopkeeper realized he hadn't introduced himself yet. "Endon. Endon Marcius. And you want me to give to job to him." He pointed to the boy sitting on the couch. He had removed the hood of his cloak, allowing his dirty blonde hair and boyish face to be seen. "He can't be more than thirteen. How old are you, boy?"

The boy flinched as he was spoken to. "Um… M-My name is T-Thomas and I'm twelve years old." He pointed at the hooded man who had just finished making his tea. "His name is Drake, and he will be seeing if I am fit to join his guild." Endon stared at them in shock. Drake placed the now heated kettle on the table, two extra cups were there if Endon and Thomas wanted to take any. They didn't.

"What kind of guild forces a twelve year old to take on entire group of thieves with only one person helping him?"

Drake shook his head. "You seem to misunderstand. I will not be helping him. He will be doing this by himself." Endon didn't know how he should react to this. This man was obviously insane. Drake continued. "Now, I believe you were telling my recruit about this job of yours."

Endon shook his head. "I refuse. I won't let you make this kid go on a suicide mission just to see if he's strong. So get ou-" He was interrupted by Thomas grabbing onto his arm.

"Please Mr. Marcius. I really want to join this guild, so please give me this mission." Endon looked down at the boy and could it in the kid's eyes that he was being truthful, that he did indeed want to join it by choice and wasn't being forced to.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I already gave the job to another group of people." Drake took a sip of his tea before joining the conversation again.

"I believe there may be a solution to this." He walked over and sat down on the couch. "Did you tell them they needed to do something specific to prove they wiped out the thieves?" Endon nodded. "Then there it is. All we need to do is make it a race. Should Thomas get back here before them with…" He took another sip of tea before turning his attention back to Endon. "What did they need to do?"

"They needed to collect the banner the guild hangs up in the main hall. When they returned with that I would send in the knights to arrest the thieves."

"Alright, so whoever gets the banner wins. Anything else we need to know?" Drake still had his hood on so only his mouth and the bottom of his nose could be seen, but Endon could feel his eyes staring at him. They seemed to be picking him apart, trying to learn everything about him. Endon started to sweat nervously.

"Well, there is the location of their hideout, but I gave the map to the people who got here first. It said they were somewhere down the main path into the forest."

Drake stood up. "That won't be a problem. Come on Thomas, your initiation begins now." Thomas quickly got up as well, following him outside.

When they made it out of the store, another cloaked figure made its way over to them. Only this one was small and had two wings sprouting out from its back. It landed in front of them and removed its hood. The red cat spoke to Drake. "What's the mission?"

Drake started to walk away from him. "If you actually came with us, you would know." The cat started to fly again, this time landing on Drake's shoulder.

"You said I could finish my food." He made a pouting face as he spoke, a slight whine is his voice. "You know I don't like to waste good food."

Drake couldn't help but chuckle at the exceed's actions. "Maybe next time you shouldn't order three servings." A quick flick of his wrist motioned Thomas to walk even with them. He turned to the twelve year old. "Are you ready to begin?"

The boy nodded excitedly. "So where are we going? Mr. Marcius said something about the forest." Drake just smirked.

"Don't listen to him. Thieves are rather smart, so they wouldn't leave a map to their base at someone's house if they weren't associated with them. And most have an emergency exit to get in and out of their hideout. And lucky for us, I think I know where that is." He then led Thomas north of the village and into the forest, but not before catching the scent of someone he hadn't smelt for years. A small smile adorned his face as he thought, 'It's been too long, Natsu. Far too long.'

_Fairy Tail's Strongest Team_

Deep inside the Dragon's Woods, four mages and a cat were lost. The map they were given was not very descriptive. The only three markings on it was a cathedral looking building with _Cedar_ written beneath it, a poorly drawn house with a small triangle above it and a circle with a large X through it nowhere near the others on the map.

"Gaaah! This doesn't make any sense!" Natsu yelled as he held the map in his hands as they walked along the path. No one knew where they should be going so they just decided to follow a dirt road.

"I'm still wondering about why he had the map in the first place." Erza had her hand on her chin, eyes closed in thought. "He seemed to know quite about these thieves."

"You worry too much. He just wants to make his town safer." Grey had stripped out of his shirt by now, but managed to keep his pants on. "Besides, this map doesn't tell anything. Probably drew it himself."

Erza considered the idea, but before she could do anything Happy yelled down at them from where he was flying. "Guys, there's a house up here!" Natsu cheered as he ran ahead to try and find it. The rest of his teammates followed after him.

The small house in front of them was nothing more than a shack built at the base of a mountain. It seemed to be partly in the base of the mountain face, with the back wall pressed up against it completely. Natsu tested the door, finding it to be locked.

Lucy said, "Great, now how are we going to ge-" Her unfinished question was answered as Natsu punched in the door with a flaming fist.

He turned to his team and gave them a big grin. "Come on guys. Let's teach these thieves a lesson." When he turned to walk into the house, a massive gust of wind blew him backwards. He fell down on his back, groaning at the pain.

Happy stayed behind to help Natsu while the rest went on ahead to discover the source of the wind. Inside the house, all kinds of furniture and object where thrown around. A table had landed on top of a bed in the corner, plates and tankards with their contents scattering the floor. A bookcase was lying flat on the floor. In the wall near the fallen bookshelf was a tunnel carved into the rock behind it. The tunnel led downwards into the ground. As the team walked through the tunnel, they discovered it widened out into a large cave.

It was perfectly circular, with a small stream cutting across the center of it. A small stone bridge went over it, allowing one to cross without getting their feet wet. Along the walls were a scattered assortment of beds and chests. But what really caught your attention was the fact that about two dozen bandits were laying on the ground, unconscious. Their weapons were not in their scabbards, as if they were in battle. A few of the swords and axes were melted, but the majority of them seemed to be blown out of their hands, being impaled in the walls and few of the bed frames.

"What the hell happened here?" Grey said as he walked over to one of the bandits. He knelt down, picking up the bandit's arm and dropping. He got no reaction.

Erza walked over the bridge, looking at the wall behind a large oak desk. Papers and gold coins were scattered on top of it. Near the top of the wall, where it met with the ceiling, were two large nails hammered into the rock. Bits of cloth were still around the nails, implying that something was sloppily pulled down. "I think someone got here before us."

Lucy walked up beside her. "Who got here before us? The shopkeeper didn't say anything about other people taking the job." Erza's answer got interrupted by a groan from the dragon slayer.

"Why can't anything be simple for once? Go to the place, beat guys up, then go back and get paid." He grumbled a few things under his breath as he kicked a sword across the floor.

Happy had been collecting some of the stuff in the chest around the room. Their contents varied from jewels to weapons to random household objects. He walked over to one of the other chest near the start of the stream. When he opened it, there was a load clunk and the rock wall above the small hole the stream moved through were pulled to the side. Behind them was another tunnel.

The group followed down the path for a few yards, before reaching a makeshift ladder. Climbing up it, they found themselves in the middle of a clearing. Looking down at the hole they got out of, they realized it was the other mark on the map they were given. It was a circular hole, covered by a wooden lid with a small X carved into it.

"So I guess we failed the mission." Lucy said in a dejected tone. "Wanna go back to town?" With a few disheartened agreements, they started to go back to Cedar.

Despite not knowing where they were, it didn't take long for them to find their way back to the small town. To their surprise, the peaceful town they left was full of commotion. The town rune knights had left the church unattended. A small crowd had formed around them as the knights led a man out of town.

As the team got closer they heard lots of profanities coming from the man. Getting even closer they realized it was the shopkeeper who gave them the job. The rune knights roughly pushed him to the ground as one pulled out a piece of paper and started to read off of it.

"Endon Marcius of Cedar, you are hereby under arrest with the charges of supporting a dark guild, fencing stolen goods, and seven different accounts of assault." Putting away the paper the knight kneeled down in front of him and said, "Did you think hiding in the town would keep us from finding you for long?"

Endon was screaming at them, yelling mixes between that they have the wrong guy and that they can all rot six feet under. It wasn't a very convincing argument.

By now the Fairy Tail mages had made it to the front of the crowd, allowing Endon to see them. The moment he saw them he went off on them. "Damn wizards! How did you find out? The other two didn't say anything, so it must have been you! Did the guild sell me out? Where are they, I'll kill them! I'll-" He was silenced by one of the knights grabbing him and dragging him to the small containment vehicle they had near the entrance of the village. Showing him in, the locked him inside and sent the cart down the road.

There was a slight murmur as members of the village discussed their surprise and disappointment in Endon. As the crowd dispersed Lucy said dejectedly, "I guess we aren't going to get paid. Should we just go home?" The rest of the team nodded and started to walk out of the village.

After half an hour they made it past the cliff and into a small forest. They couldn't contact anyone to get a carriage to take them home so they had to walk. The only one who supported this was Natsu because he didn't have to get on the death-wagon as he liked to call it.

As they stepped out into a large clearing, they saw a man wearing a dark brown cloak standing out in the middle of the road, his back facing them. Tied around this neck in similar fashion to a cape was a dark green banner was a black diamond with a circle around it. When they made it about ten yards from the tree line, the team realized what they were looking at.

Natsu was the one to voice what they all were thinking. "Hey you!" Assuming that it was voiced towards him, the cloaked man turned around to face them. "Where did you get that cape?" He pointed at the part of the banner that was being dragged on the ground.

The cloaked man looked over his shoulder, the cowl being pulled backwards so it almost revealed his face. No one was paying attention to that, fortunately for him. They were all focused on his 'cape.'

"This old thing? I just got it recently. My teammate had to collect it to prove he completed his mission."  
>He had untied it, and was currently holding it in a similar fashion to how a matador held the red cloth. "He wasn't forced to give it up, so he gave it to me." His voice dropped into a lower tone when he spoke his next sentence. "Did you want it?"<p>

"Yeah, my team was supposed to grab it for a mission." Natsu walked a bit closer to the man. "Which means your friend got it first."

The man dropped the banner, it piling at his feet. "How about we have little test? You and I fight, and the winner gets the banner and the money for the mission." He pulled out a small bundle of jewels from the inside of his cloak. "Should you win, your team gets paid. If you lose, you get to satisfy your desire to fight. It's a win-win situation for you. Does that sound fair?"

Natsu was about to agree when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Erza. "I don't think this is the best idea. We don't know anything about this guy." Natsu just shrugged her off and turned back to the cloaked man.

The man said, "I'll let you attack first. Hit me whenever you are ready."

Natsu didn't need to be told twice. Fire spawned on his fists and he jumped at the man in front of him. Yelling _**"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"**_ as pulled his hand back, ready to punch. As he landed directly before the cloaked man, he threw his fist forward and felt it connect with his face.

He tried to pull his hand back for another punch but found out it was stuck. As he looked up at the man before him, he realized why. The punch didn't seem to affect the man at all, besides knocking down the hood of his cloak. He had caught Natsu's fist with his mouth. His teeth were holding Natsu's fist at the knuckles. He took a deep breath in, the fire on Natsu's hand being drawn into his lungs.

The man then stopped biting down, releasing Natsu from the hold. He quickly then kneed him in the gut, fire from under his foot increasing its force. Natsu landed on a heap in the ground. The cloaked man then looked at the trees and yelled, "Thomas do it now!"

Grey, Lucy and Erza, who were all watching the event play out in front of them, felt a strong gust of wind start to swirl around them. Erza looked up into the tree behind them and saw a young boy sitting on a branch. He had his hands in a fashion similar to praying, but they had a small amount of space between them. The wind was swirling around him causing a divide in the branches of the trees. Looking down at the three mages, he whispered a word only he could hear.

"Metsu."

Two large magic seals appeared above the fairy tail mages as the winds surrounding them drained them of their magic. A few moments and the seals disappeared, the magic that had been drained traveling along the winds. Thomas turned towards the small red cat clinging onto a tree branch for dear life. "Did I do it right?" The cat slowly turned towards him and gave a weak nod.

Natsu crawled back away from the man who just knocked him on the ground. Pushing down the hood had revealed fiery red hair and a pale face. His eyes though, were what brought attention to him. They were a light blue, looking like a reflection of the sky. He looked down at the dragon slayer as he recovered from the single attack.

He didn't do anything as Natsu got up, just watched. He was observing everything about Natsu, learning what he could in this small amount of time. When Natsu was on his feet, he asked a question. "Who are you?"

Drake tilted his head to the side at forty five degrees. "You don't remember me?" He quickly dashed forwards, grabbing Natsu by the scarf and lifting him into the air. Orange fire started to swirl around them, slowly climbing up Drake's legs.

"I guess I'll have to remind you."

"Little Brother."

_Ginger: So yeah, I'm an ass. This is how I end the three introductory chapters. I hope you enjoyed them. Uploads will now be down weekly, on Sunday. I'll try my best to make them at the same time, maybe around noon. _

_Ginger: Anyway, I really do hope you enjoyed the story so far. It's going to be one long ride, so don't expect something short and sweet. Feel free to leave a review, whether it is asking a question or some constructive criticism. Anything and everything is appreciated. _


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